Beginner Which B&W chemistry?

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So I want to try developing B&W film at home... :D

Which chemistry should I go for?

As far as I understand I need at least 3 things: Developer, Fixer, Stop Bath.

I hear a lot of good things about Rodinal. But which one? There is Adox and Tetenal and probably others.

What about the fixer and stop bath? Should I get all 3 of the same manufacturer, or are there better combinations?

I completely lost, please help :dummy:
 
Strictly speaking, you can dispense with a stop bath and use a water rinse (although I prefer to use a stop bath).

Fixers are all pretty much the same (at least, the mainstream ones) - and I'd go with the easiest to get. I can buy Ilford fixer at a local shop, so I use that; but others are equally as good.

Developer is the tricky part, and will to some extent depend on film size and personal preferences. If you don't like grain (and I don't) and use 35mm (again, I don't) then you'd need to get a fine grain developer and shun acutance ones like Rodinal. Rodinal (I use it, but use roll film and larger) had the advantance of being easy to use, economical and lasting forever. The newer variants (since Agfa went under) lack the long lasting attribute - certainly in some cases.

If you want a middle of the road developer and don't mind mixing powders, Ilford ID11/Kodak D76 are the ones to go to. They are identical as far as developing properties go.

There is no need to use the same manufacturers :)
 
I know that someone has mentioned it before on here but what developer does FilmDev use? (to save me the search). I've been happy with their b&w results so wouldn't mind trying the same developer to get me started again. The last time I did b&w at college we used ID11.
 
I settled on Kodak HC-110 some time ago.

Very easy and convenient to use.

Reasonable cost

Lasts forever so no waste when deving occasionally.

Ilford fix.
 
mdjchat said:
I know that someone has mentioned it before on here but what developer does FilmDev use? (to save me the search). I've been happy with their b&w results so wouldn't mind trying the same developer to get me started again. The last time I did b&w at college we used ID11.
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ID11 is an excellent developer for fine grain. I use either ID11 or Rodinol if I want grainy pictures or am developing a very old film.
 
It's been a very long time since I did home D & P, but I agree with the previous posters. There's not a great deal to choose between fixers and stop baths, but you need to find the developer(s) that work well with the film(s) you want to use, and give the results you expect. Years ago, I mainly shot FP4 and developed it in Microphen, and Tri-X (the old type) which I developed in D-76. It's probably best to use the recommendations in this thread as a guideline and experiment until you find what you prefer.
 
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A few months ago I read a blog post which contained comparisons of a large number of films developed in a large number of developers.Unfortunately I can't find it now but what I can remember is:

a) It was written in something other than English, probably French
b) It used two standard scenes, one of which contained eggs

and now the important bits:

c) There wasn't much difference in the images from different films
d) There was even less difference between the different developers.

My conclusion was not to worry too much about developer choice. In the past I have used Fotospeed FD10, D76, ID-11, Rollei RHS DC-74, and Rodinal. All worked just fine. At the moment I'm using Kodak HC110.

For stop bath, I bought some citric acid powder from eBay - enough to last for years. Just add one spoonful to water to to make the stop bath.

I can't remember who made the fixer I use. I bought a 5 litre container of the cheapest available, combined with some other stuff in an order to spread the impact of the P&P charge.
EDIT - I couldn't resist going to the garage to have a look. It's "Tetenal SuperFix" - but that doesn't matter.
 
mdjchat said:
I know that someone has mentioned it before on here but what developer does FilmDev use? (to save me the search). I've been happy with their b&w results so wouldn't mind trying the same developer to get me started again. The last time I did b&w at college we used ID11.
Click to expand...

They use XTOL, as do Peak. Not sure what AG use normally; they did my Ferrania P30 in Fuji Negastar. I've always liked the results from XTOL, but I understand it's not very practical for home use... needs volume!

I personally use Ilfosol 3, which is OK. This was mainly because the shop I went to had it, Ilford Rapid Fixer and Ilfostop beside one another on the shelf!

(This post is from Richard Pickup; would you believe that was 35mm HP5? In Perceptol, which is another powder based developer.)

You may also want a wetting agent, eg Kodak PhotoFlo, to help avoid drying spots...
 
Kevin Allan said:
A few months ago I read a blog post which contained comparisons of a large number of films developed in a large number of developers.Unfortunately I can't find it now but what I can remember is:

a) It was written in something other than English, probably French
b) It used two standard scenes, one of which contained eggs

and now the important bits:

c) There wasn't much difference in the images from different films
d) There was even less difference between the different developers.

My conclusion was not to worry too much about developer choice. In the past I have used Fotospeed FD10, D76, ID-11, Rollei RHS DC-74, and Rodinal. All worked just fine. At the moment I'm using Kodak HC110.

For stop bath, I bought some citric acid powder from eBay - enough to last for years. Just add one spoonful to water to to make the stop bath.

I can't remember who made the fixer I use. I bought a 5 litre container of the cheapest available, combined with some other stuff in an order to spread the impact of the P&P charge.
EDIT - I couldn't resist going to the garage to have a look. It's "Tetenal SuperFix" - but that doesn't matter.
Click to expand...

I don't know the post you're referring to, but Richard Pickup has a similar set of comparisons in his "pebble project". Like you I decided the differences were invisible to me, though other folk talk knowledgeably about them. So I decided to get some more Ilfosol!
 
Thanks @ChrisR for your reply and the link. The HP5 looks great in Perceptol. Definitely something to look into.
 
ChrisR said:
I don't know the post you're referring to, but Richard Pickup has a similar set of comparisons in his "pebble project". Like you I decided the differences were invisible to me, though other folk talk knowledgeably about them. So I decided to get some more Ilfosol!
Click to expand...
Perhaps that was the one I was thinking of ... why did I think it was in French and why did I confuse eggs with pebbles ?
 
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Kevin Allan said:
Perhaps that was the one I was thinking of ... why did I think it was in French and why did I confuse eggs with pebbles ?
Click to expand...

I think I may have the answer to that question.... :D
 
I tried X-TOL but couldn't get rid of white spots on the negatives no matter how much I stirred and mixed the formula. Rodinal was a favourite but can give excessive grain on faster films and my APH-09 variant went off digitally (one use it's fine, next it's useless). I'm now using HC-110 and have been very impressed with it, even when using a 1:100 mix for 1-hour semi-stand development. (y)
 
joxby said:
It doesn't tell you anything about Barry Thorntons 2 bath formula, its a load of scan workflow stuffs Brian...:)
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Here are the links I have saved for BT2B. It looks like the archived version of Barry's original site has disappeared sometime in the last few months.

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/thorntons-two-bath.23700/

http://grahamp.dotinthelandscape.org/photodata/thornton.html

http://jelabs.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/barry-thornton-2-bath-developer.html

http://www.parkersmithphoto.com/clientftp/docs/Barry Thornton Two Bath developer.pdf
 
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